In the wake of Andrew Bynum possibly taking the court tonight for the Cleveland Cavaliers down at the Wells Fargo Center, it’s a good time to look back and reflect on one of the biggest Sixers trades in the past 20 years.

It was just two summers ago in August when the Sixers shipped out Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a protected first-round pick in return for the possible franchise-center Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

According to multiple reports, former Sixer Andre Iguodala will opt out of his contract with the Denver Nuggets next season to become a free agent.

Iguodala, whose lone all-star season came with the Sixers in 2012, is set to make $16.2 million next season. By opting out, he’ll have the ability to sign a five-year contract with the Nuggets or a four-year deal with another team.

The news is somewhat surprising, considering the Nuggets held a 57-25 record last season. Yet as a No.3 seed in the Western Conference, the Nuggets were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors. Their head coach George Karl was fired and their GM Masai Ujiri also left for a job with the Toronto Raptors.

What’s more surprising is the move by Iguodala to decide to take less money in order to have a better shot at an NBA title.

Since that gut wrenching day in 2006 when the Philadelphia 76ers decided to pull the trigger on a deal that sent perennial All-Star guard and Philadelphia icon Allen Iverson to the Denver Nuggets, this franchise has been searching for his replacement.

Originally, the Sixers planned that high rising, athletic swingman Andre Iguodala would become the face of the franchise and carry the torch. Unfortunately, that plan has faltered for multiple reasons, and ultimately 76ers fans grew frustrated with first round playoff exits and uninspiring basketball and in turn stopped showing up at the Wells Fargo Center. Then after the debacle that was the 2009-10 season, the 76ers fell into a sports blackhole in this town and became irrelevant.

Now, the forgotten franchise in the City of Brotherly Love has a an opportunity to resurrect its dying image and bring enthusiasm back to its fan base by trading for Carmelo Anthony. Acquring Carmelo Anthony is a franchise saving opportunity and Philadunkia’s home team must do everything in their power to seal the deal and if that means that second overall pick Evan Turner must be sent to Denver along with Andre Iguodala, then so be it.

Ok, so there are some rumor winds swirling from Philly.com that the Sixers have made an offer for malcontent Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, and that the Nuggets kinda, sorta, maybe like the deal. The question of the hour is, do they like it, or do they like it, like it.

Let’s say they like it, like it. I’m going to peer into my crystal ball and tell you how this one plays out (BTW, my crystal ball is a replica of Ed Stefanski’s head). The trade would be incredibly popular initially with both fans and the less-savvy members of the media (but I repeat myself, zing!), and everybody would sing the praises of Rod Thorn and draw parallels between his acquisition of Jason Kidd ten years ago and the Nets consequent rise to the top of the East and his now acquisition of a twenty-six year old Olympian, near scoring champion and, in the circumspect and well-considered words of Chauncy Billups, “one of the top two or three players in the world.” Hot damn, this Thorn is a wheelin’, dealin’, riverboat gambler! He turned Igoudala into Carmelo. How’s that for alchemy? — the columns would read.

Expectations would be high. Through the roof. They would literally explode through the roof. After enough roofs were destroyed, people would learn not to keep these expectations indoors. They’d be left outside to soar, to be free. And why not? Carmelo Anthony is the single best player in basketball not named Kobe, Lebron or Durant! We know that because he scores the most. You can’t win without scoring points, anybody knows that. And the guy he’s replacing? Iguodala? More like “ugly(jumper)odala!” That guy sucks. Look at his scoring for crying out loud. Carmelo scores waaaaaaay more than him. Carmelo, points, Carmelo, twenty-eight a game, Carmelo, scorer, Carmellllllllloooooo! That’s howthe conventional wisdom would go. And who could argue with it. Carmelo does score a lot of points. And everybody knows the best player is the guy who scores the most. Period.